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By Edward Keller

Jan 1, 1906

Evver since it first displayed an autonomous mining truck at the 1996 MinExpo show in Las Vegas, NV, Caterpillar has been building the blocks to a fully autonomous mine. In May, the company unveiled another block in that progression, the new Cat MineStar System that it says is ?the industry?s broadest, most comprehensively integrated miner operations and mobile equipment management system.? The full system is comprised of five capability sets ? Fleet, Terrain, Detect, Health and Command ? to help operators define the size and scope of their management system based on the needs of their mining operations. Michael Murphy, technology and autonomy manager for Cat Global Mining, explained that the customers were not ready for an autonomous mining truck in 1996, but that many customers wanted the building blocks to eventually get to autonomous mining. After 15 years of work, Murphy said the building blocks have come together in the form of the Cat MineStar System.

Jan 1, 2011

By Ben Habermann

"The object of the work described in this paper was to increase the understanding of the relation that capillary pressure of a rock, hydro-dynamics, and accumulation of oil in stratigraphie traps have to one an-other. The hydrodynamic oil-water tilt equation is derived by considering the two vector gradients involved: (1) buoyancy of oil in water and (2) hydraulic gradient.Recent theories show the necessity for oil to have a continuons phase in the reservoir rock in order to mi-grate; this fact applies to hydro-static as well as to hydrodynamic conditions. Hydrostatically, the displacement pressure of the rock deter-mines the amount of oil that can be trapped behind a permeability barrier. If the buoyancy of oil in water exceeds the displacement pressure, oil will migrate up-dip; an oil trap will be formed where displacement pressure is greater.In stratigraphie traps the pressure drop caused by moving water is positive when its direction is down-dip, helping accumulation; and it is negative when its direction is up-dip, forcing the oil into the tighter section of the reservoir. Theoretically, pro-vided we have data such as: (1) the displacement pressure of an up-dip permeability pinchout, (2) density difference between the oil and water in place, and (3) the direction and magnitude of the hydrodynamic gradient (if any), the possible extent of a stratigraphie oil accumulation down-dip can be predicted.To test the above theory sample cores from three wells in the Denver Basin were analyzed and the oil column that could be held under hydro-static conditions was calculated. After the hydrodynamic influence was considered, the results were compared with actual field data.The significant fact shown by this investigation is that the calculated oil column in one reservoir very closely approximates the actual extent of the oil column in a well. Also in accordance with the theory, the capillary pressure caused by the buoyancy of the oil column exceeded the measured displacement pressure on core samples from another productive field. For very tight shaly sand and questionable oil shows, the interpretation of data is very critical, as shown by experiments on core samples from a third field."

Jan 1, 1960

By Jesse Puller, Ken Mills

"This paper describes the Australia, New Zealand Inflatable (ANZI) strain cell, its operation, and recent development for overcoring in exploration boreholes. The ANZI strain cell is an instrument system that uses the overcoring method of stress relief to determine the three-dimensional, in-situ stresses in rock. The instrument has been used successfully for over three decades in numerous underground mining and civil projects, but technical advances over the last decade or so have allowed the system to be deployed in surface exploration boreholes to greater depths than was previously possible. Recent development of a downhole electronic data logger, a wireline-enabled drilling system, and an instrument deployment system has simplified the process of obtaining three-dimensional overcore measurements at depths approaching 1km to a single shift operation.The capability to deploy ANZI strain cells in surface exploration boreholes represents a significant breakthrough for the design of underground mines and underground excavations generally. High-confidence characterisation of the in-situ stresses at the design stage provides the opportunity to design key infrastructure and mining systems to take advantage of the in-situ stress field from the outset before mining begins. Understanding the three-dimensional, in-situ stress field not only provides a measure of the magnitude and direction of loads acting within the rock mass, it also provides insight into the mechanics of all the various processes driving ground deformations, including which geological fault structures are at limiting equilibrium.INTRODUCTIONThe overcoring method of stress relief is one of the most direct methods for determining three-dimensional, in-situ stresses in rock. The Australia, New Zealand Inflatable (ANZI) strain cell combines overcoring with several other techniques to provide determinations of the three-dimensional, in-situ stress field and the properties of the rock and, importantly, provides an indication of how much confidence can be placed in the measurement. This paper describes the advances that have enabled overcoring of the ANZI strain cell in deep surface exploration boreholes and the development of various complementary techniques that build additional confidence in the determination of the in-situ stress."

Jan 1, 2018

By H. Walqui

Southern Peru Copper Corporation (SPCC) are currently modernizing the Ilo copper smelter. A single ISASMELT furnace will start smelting 1,200,000 tonnes per year of concentrate during the second half of 2006. The existing Peirce Smith converters are being upgraded for converting the matte to blister copper and a new acid plant and oxygen plant are being installed. Two new anode furnaces and a twin anode casting wheel have been installed in 2005 and commissioned in January 2006. The modernization project will ensure the smelter satisfies new environmental regulations due to come into force in January 2007. This paper summarises the background to the modernization project, describes the main design features of the new copper smelter and summarises progress on the smelter construction as of early 2006. This paper describes the genesis of the Ilo Smelter Modernization Project and describes in details the scope and current status of the project.

Jan 1, 2006

By Aleksandar D. Bugarski, Dylan A. Ritter

The results of laboratory characterization of tailpipe emissions for three “clean” engines that meet U.S. EPA Tier 4 final emissions standards were used to assess the viability and effectiveness of repowering existing engines and powering new mobile equipment with those engines as a control strategy for reducing exposure of underground miners to diesel aerosol and criteria gases. The evaluated engines were representative of those that achieve the emission standards through implementation of various in-cylinder emissions control strategies, use of crankcase filtration, and use of three types of exhaust aftertreatment systems: (1) diesel oxidation catalytic converter (DOC), (2) combination of DOC and the full-flow wall flow monolith diesel particulate filter (DPF), or (3) combination of DOC, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) based selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system, and ammonia slip catalyst (ASC). The study showed that the highest reductions in concentrations of diesel aerosols in underground workings, in terms of both mass and number, could be achieved if the engines, preferably in all power classes, are fitted with viable DPF systems. The use of U.S. EPA Tier 4 final engines equipped with DOC and DOC/SCR/ASC systems could help operators to considerably reduce mass, but not number concentrations of aerosols. The emissions of two of the evaluated engines, one equipped with DOC and the other equipped with DOC/DPF systems, were characterized by substantial secondary NO2 emissions that would limit the viability of those engines for underground mining applications. It appears that the catalyst formulations used in the exhaust aftertreatment systems of the “clean” engines marketed to the underground mining industry need to be formulated to minimize the potential for generation of secondary NO2 emissions. The results indicate that the engines fitted with viable SCR/ASC systems present a low-NO2 alternative. All three “clean” engines were found to have low CO output. Therefore, due to nuances associated with the use of diesel-powered mobile equipment in underground mines, special attention needs to be paid to the selection and potentially optimization of “clean” engines for underground mining applications.

Feb 1, 2025

By Sub-Committee of the Committee on Research

"THE FOLLOWING REPORT was compiled by a sub-committee of The Metallurgical Society of CIM, Committee for Research, and represents a viewpoint of the steel industry in Canada. The objective was to define those areas in which the industry considers that external sources of Research and Development are a necessary function in supporting the in-house R & D conducted by the industry.On future occasions, the viewpoints of other metallurgical industries, such as those of nickel, copper and aluminum, will be presented. The report is divided into several sections: 1.-R & D Spending by the Steel Industry (a) Memberships in Recognized Steel Research Centres (b) Memberships in Recognized Industry Associations (c) Sponsored Research at Recognized Centres (d) Sponsored Research at Universities(e) Sporadic Research 2.-Areas for Research and Development(a) Instrumentation (b) Environment Control (c) Refractories (d) Sponsored Research at Universities(e) Electric Furnaces (f) Continuous Casting"

Jan 1, 1970

By T Wambeke, J Benndorf

A risk-robust development of a heavy mineral resource requires an assessment of the geological uncertainty and spatial variability of the key factors impacting the mining and processing operation. Attributes of interest are the total heavy mineral grade, the slime content and the amount of oversized particles. The modelling of a mineral sand deposit presents two main challenges. Firstly, the exact location of the geological boundaries are obscure due to the complex interaction of the deposit formation processes. Secondly, the properties of interest exhibit a rather complex transitional behaviour across the so-called soft boundaries. Traditionally, the modelling exercise is restricted to a consecutive stochastic simulation of distinct geological facies and orebody properties. This results in different zones separated by hard boundaries, ignoring the typical transitional behaviour.This contribution presents an alternative approach which models the entire sand body as a single domain while accounting for the complex trends present. Error curves are used to infer covariance model parameters without the need of a prior removal of the trend. The principle is based on minimising the differences between empirical and theoretical errors resulting from two methods of prediction calculated for different rings of influence. The added value results from the unambiguous decomposition of the spatial variation into a deterministic trend and a stochastic residual. The trend model neither overfits nor underfits the data. The calculated residuals are thus unbiased and the uncertainty can be correctly assessed.The effort results in a characterisation of the resource uncertainty which provides a more realistic image of the spatial variability of the key properties in and across the geological domains of an existing heavy mineral sand deposit.CITATION:Wambeke, T and Benndorf, J, 2014. Optimal inference of modelling parameters to simulate complex trends across soft boundaries – a case study in heavy mineral sands, in Proceedings Orebody Modelling and Strategic Mine Planning Symposium 2014 , pp 73–84 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 24, 2014

By S G. Bergdahl

Underground mining in Sweden is today characterized by mechanization and automation, owing to the rising cost of labour. Drilling in drifts and tunnels is still essentially done with jackleg drills, but rigs wh1ch make it possible for one man to operate two or more drills are now frequently used. Large jumbos for longhole drilling, with two drills operated by one man, are used, especially in sub-level caving. A special drill-rig for drilling through overburden and blasting without removing the overburden has been successfully used in canals and also in ports, where blasting is per-formed under water. The increased use of mining methods based upon long blastholes is a result of the development of equipment for drilling long straight holes. The most common mining method in Sweden is sub-level caving. Extensive research, with model tests, has been carried out in order to determine suit-able dimensions of drifts, sub-levels and drilling patterns. The results have been tried in practice and have given increased yield and less waste rock in hoisted ore.

Jan 1, 1963

By Michael J. Friedel

The permeability and flow capacity in unsaturated media is investigated by the Bureau of Mines for application to in situ copper leach mining at the Cyprus Casa Grande mine site. Moisture retention properties are derived and combined with scanning electron microprobe data to characterize the mineralogy, texture, pore size, distribution, and permeability of the host rock. Finite element modeling is used to derive a saturated permeability, ambient degree of saturation, and assess various injection-recovery schemes. Recommended design modifications for optimization of solution distribution and maximum recovery from the rock matrix requires either (1) the injection pressures on the order of 1500 psi and recovery wells operating in a suction mode, or (2) performing permeability enhancement, through rubblization. By producing a maximum block diameter of 4 m, injection pressures can be reduced to 500 psi with improved recovery and containment of solutions.

Jan 1, 1991

By J. C. Boswell, J. D. Crawford

IN addition to its base-metal and coal mining operations, the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company has, for the past quarter century, been one of the few large American mining companies interested in dredging. Its activities in this field are confined to gold, and to Alaska, but it is the largest operator in that territory, with twelve huge dredges available to work during the summer on the frozen ancient beach sands at Nome and the gravels of Fairbanks. These operations will be described separately.

Jan 1, 1948

By U. Storck

"Shaft sinking for exploitation of the deep potash beds in Saskatchewan involved great difficulties from the very first because of the need to exclude from the shaft the high-pressure water encountered in the overburden. Control of the troublesome Blairmore quicksands was achieved relatively quickly by use of the freezing method and by lining with cast iron tubbing. The unsolved problem remained, however, of sealing the water-bearing Devonian where the formations had extremely low permeability and were thus hard to grout. Long experience in German potash mines had shown that the permanency of the whole mine would be seriously endangered if large amounts of unsaturated salt water were allowed to flow in from the shaft wall and merely removed by pumping. The prevention of water movement and the resulting dissolution of salt in the overburden were known to be most important. In the Alwinsal shaft, water flow from the Devonian has been prevented by the use of a steel and concrete sandwich lining similar in principle to a kind of lining introduced a few years earlier, and for another reason, in German coal shafts. As its installation is neither more expensive nor more time consuming than that of cast iron tubbing lining, this same lining was also chosen as protection against the Blairmore quicksands. The great advantage of the steel lining, in addition to its relatively high strength, is the fact that it is possible to make the joints of the individual segments absolutely and permanently water-tight by means of tested welds. The virtual dryness of the Alwinsal shaft will also result in lower costs because significant corrosion of all its steel installations, including skips, cage and ropes, will be prevented."

Jan 1, 1968

By E. H. Bunce, E. C. Handwerk

The inherent difficulties of zinc smelting arise from the fact that metallic zinc is volatilized at the reducing temperature of zinc oxide and thus is liberated in the form of a vapor. This vapor must be subsequently condensed to obtain metallic zinc, first in molten and eventually in solid form. Zinc vapor is sensitive to oxidation not only by air but by combustion gases containing carbon dioxide. It is, therefore, necessary to carry out both the reduction and the condensation operations in a closed system consisting of an externally heated muffle with attached condenser from which extcrnal oxidizing agencies are excluded. However, the reoxidation of zinc vapor cannot be entirely prevented by excluding external sources of oxidation. Internal sources of oxidation are necessarily present when oxidic zinc ores are reduced by a carbonaceous reducing agent. The reduction reactions themselves involve, first, the production of carbon monoxide in an amount at least equal in volume to the zinc vapor produced in the reaction, and, second, the formation of carbon dioxide. Not all of the carbon dioxide is reduced again to carbon monoxide by the excess carbon in the time available, and the slightly oxidizing condition, which results, seriously affects the efficiency of the condensation of the zinc vapor to the metallic state. In the past the difficulties arising from these causes have limited practical zinc smelting on an industrial scale to the use of small retorts equipped with small condensers. The retorts had to be small, because a closed refractory container capable of excluding oxidizing gases from the heating chamber surrounding the retort could not be built in large dimensions. The size was also limited because ordinary refractories when thin enough to conduct heat readily are not capable of sustaining a heavy load of charge at high temperature. Moreover, a loose charge of zinc ore and carbonaceous reducing material such as fine anthracite coal or coke breeze is a poor conductor of heat, thus limiting the cross section of the retort. The operation of these small retorts requires arduous

Jan 1, 1937

By Donna L. Anderson

This information circular documents the status of a laser-based guidance system to track and control the tramming maneuvers of a continuous mining machine. The work is part of a multiple project effort at the U.S. Bureau of Mines to develop technology for computer-assisted mining systems. The system includes stationary offboard laser-scanning sensors that report the angular coordinates of retroreflective targets on the mining machine. A microcomputer system processes the angular coordinates, determines position and heading, handles requests for data, and controls tram maneuvers of a continuous mining machine. This report describes the hardware for the sensor and computer systems and the software algorithms for continuous miner position and heading determination, closed-loop tramming, and data request handling. Improvements made to the system since previous documentation include the rewriting of the software on a stand-alone real-time microcomputer system, the implementation of real-time programming techniques, the use of a new version of the laser sensor, and the design and development of explosion-proof enclosures for the lasers and corresponding power supply.

Jan 1, 1991

By W. R. Lindsay

Anyox, where the Hidden Creek mine of the Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Company is located, is situated on an excellent deep-water harbour in Granby bay, at the head of Observatory inlet, about 600 miles from Vancouver and 90 miles north of Prince Rupert. Anyox is the Indian name for the little stream which empties into Granby bay, and means 'hidden creek'. The Ore-Bodies The ore is a replacement deposit and occurs at and near the contact between argillites and a later intrusive greenstone. This contact locally has a general north-and-south trend, an irregular westerly dip, and in the vicinity of the ore-bodies there has been intense folding, accompanied by faulting. The mineralizing solutions supposedly were derived from the Coast Range granite batholith, distant one to two miles to the east and north. The whole area is cut by many dykes of varying widths, which seem to have had but little part in the ore deposition.

Jan 1, 1929

By Barry J. Hansen

In the past six years, the Hanna Mining Company has increased its pellet producing capabilities greatly by the construction and expansion of six pelletizing plants in North America. At the present time Hanna managed pelletizers have a nominal capacity of 18 million long tons per year. This capability makes Hanna one of the world's largest pellet producers. To create and maintain such an operation has required the skill and dedication of many people in all aspects of the company's activities, in the various fields of exploration, operations and research. The Research and Development Group consists of the staffs of two laboratories situated on the Mesabi Range in northern Minnesota. These laboratories are well equipped to carry out work in the fields of beneficiation and extractive metallurgy especially iron ore treatment. Facilities exist for the batch and semi- continuous investigation of the unit operations common to iron ore beneficiation and pelletizing. The R and D Division is divided into groups according to specialized areas of interest. Presented in this paper today are some aspects of the activities of the Pelletizing Group of the Research & Development Organization.

Jan 1, 1969

By L. C. So, S. Faucher, S. Mostaghel, D. Sauter, S. -Y. Oh, S. K. Lee

"Molten material from pyrometallurgical furnaces is tapped at high temperature, carrying a large amount of heat. Traditional handling methods of slow air cooling or water granulation do not allow for the recovery of heat from slag and matte. Furthermore, water granulation adds an inherent safety risk of explosions. Recently, there have been numerous studies into processes attempting to recover waste heat. However, most of them have never been commercialized due to numerous challenges including scalability, cost, low heat recovery efficiencies, and difficulties in heat utilization. Ecomaister-Hatch has recently developed and commercialized a reliable and simple dry atomization system that allows for heat recovery while eliminating the use of water. Comparisons of pilot and commercialized dry atomization and heat recovery technologies will be presented and challenges of these technologies will be highlighted.INTRODUCTION Slag has traditionally been regarded as an undesired waste product from smelting operations with slag management focused on removal and disposal of “waste”. Over 500 million tonnes of slag are produced per year, carrying with it ~220 TWh of energy (Barati, Esfahani, & Utigard, 2011). Depending on the process, the energy content of slag ranges from 10-90% of the total energy input (Barati, 2011, Rodd, 2010). There has therefore been great interest in recovering energy from slag. Slag handling methods can broadly be classified into three categories: (1) dumping and slow cooling, (2) wet granulation and (3) dry granulation. As discussed below, only dry granulation routes are amenable to heat recovery. Slag dumping involves the slow cooling of molten material and crushing of the resulting solid. In this process, slag is dumped on the ground directly from furnaces or transferred to slag pots that are moved by rail or haulers and then dumped on the ground. The molten material is left to cool and solidify until it can be broken and handled by heavy machinery."

Jan 1, 2017

Olympic Dam Operation is located in the Stuart Shelf Geological Province approximately 520 km north-north-west of Adelaide in South Australia. It is estimated to be one of the worldÆs top five copper orebodies by size and the biggest single occurrence of uranium. The deposit was discovered by Western Mining Corporation in 1975. Exploration was based on a conceptual model for the formation of sediment hosted copper deposits together with gravity and magnetic anomalies.The capital cost of the current expansion is estimated to be A$ 1.64 billion. The underground expansion includes a total of 36 km of lateral development, a railway haulage system delivering ore from a series of ore passes to a new crusher station and a significant increase in ventilation capacity and mine services.In the current underground expansion the mining method will essentially remain unchanged. The ore handling system will incorporate some recent advances in technology, improving efficiency and safety standards.Major infrastructure excavations are designed by a team of engineers attached to the Olympic Dam Expansion Project and a number of consulting groups. Once the expansion is fully completed it is expected to increase the current annual underground production level from 3.4 Mt to 9.0 Mt of ore by the year 2000. Mine design engineers working for the Olympic Dam Operation have recently completed a three year final design plan to achieve this target.Access to the existing mine is through the decline and Whenan shaft. The Whenan shaft was originally sunk as an exploration access and later upgraded for hoisting. The 4 km long service decline connecting to the Whenan shaft was later constructed to accommodate the increase in service demand. The Robinson and Sir Lindsay Clark shafts were developed at later stages to cater for the hoisting during and following the expansion lead up.

Jan 1, 1999

By L. R. Burdick

The Smokescope is an instrument recently developed for determining the density of smoke by shade comparison. The instrument is designed so that the smoke is seen adjacent to two shades of gray corresponding to Nos. 2 and 3 on the Ringelmann chart. Data on smoke density are important in the smoke-abatement field. The method that is specified and accepted as standard for smoke-density determination by the majority of city smoke regulations involves comparing the smoke shade with the four shades on the Ringelmann chart as published by the Bureau of Mines.2/ This investigation was made to determine the accuracy and convenience of the Smokescope. It was conducted as a part of the Bureau I s air-pollution work, which includes the study of techniques that will promote smoke abatement. The accuracy of the Smokescope was arbitrarily defined as the difference between the Smokescope determinations and the determinations by the accepted, standard method and was expressed as Smokescope correction. Although the corrections obtained were strictly correct only for the two observers and the Smokescope of the investigation, they indicate what might be expected from any observer who uses a Smokescope with reference shades that duplicate those of the test instrument. The report is devoted largely to the data on Smokescope correction, which were taken from a single stack under controlled smoke conditions. Field work, which was done at various locations with different stacks, is mentioned briefly in connection with the comparison of the convenience of the two methods. The data for estimating Smokescope correction were taken for the three variables that were expected to affect the results, namely, the density of the smoke, the amount of light, and the color of the sky behind the smoke.

Jan 1, 1955

By K. C. Grogan

"GeneralGIANT ORE is complex, with the gold values for the most part occurring in extremely close association with arsenopyrite, stibnite, jamesonite, and a wide group of antimonial minerals locally termed 'the grey minerals'. Pyrite is the most abundant of the sulphide minerals• and minor quantities of chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite also occur. Pyrrhotite has been found in some sections of the mine, but to date none of it has been nickeliferous. Native gold occurs in varying amounts throughout the ore bodies.In 1944, ore dressing investigations were commenced on diamond-drill core rejects and samples of surface outcrop ore. Results soon indicated that treatment to produce satisfactory recovery of the gold values would involve fine grinding to 80-85 per cent minus 200 mesh, recovery of free gold by jigs, followed by flotation, roasting of the flotation concentrate, and subsequent cyanidation of the calcine. Proceeding from this information, the flow-sheet was prepared, plant design worked out, equipment purchased, and construction of the treatment plant commenced in May, 1947.The crushing, grinding, and flotation units of the plant were rushed to completion and commenced operation on May 12th, l.948, at 225 tons of ore per day. This rate was maintained until January 27th, 1949, when the Allis-Chalmers roaster and cyanide plants were completed and commenced operation. During the period May 12th, 1948, to January 27th, 1949, gold recovered by amalgamation was the sole source of revenue. Flotation concentrate was stockpiled pending the completion of the Allis~Chalmers roaster and cyanide plants."

Jan 1, 1953